I’m no fan of Wal-Mart (or Wal*Mart) but this is just one more reason to shop somewhere else:
Hilights are “proposes numerous ways to hold down spending on health care and other benefits while seeking to minimize damage to the retailer’s reputation” and “the recommendations are hiring more part-time workers and discouraging unhealthy people from working at Wal-Mart”.
I understand that Wal-Mart wants to preserve it’s image as a low cost leader with employees that love the company but that last part isn’t going to last long. Wal-Mart is exploiting the poor and using the government to subsidize things like employee health care. Those low prices take money out of every pocket but their own. The irony is that we’re all poorer because of Wal-Mart and we’re almost forced to shop there because many times they do have lower prices.
I guess the worst part is that there are plenty of other companies that do the same sorts of things we just don’t know about it. And Wal-Mart is under the spotlight only because they are so big. Are there any *big* companies out there that have a company slogan “don’t be evil” like Google?
Maybe Wal-Mart will stop selling junk food in an effort to have healthier people that can in turn work at Wal-Mart. And, what are they going to do about the greeters at the front door . . . those guys must be taking 20 medications a day. Oh, I know, they’re part time so no worries about health insurance.